How to Drive a Dragon Crazy (Dragon Kin #6)(88)

Wings scraped against tunnel walls, claws slapped against rock as the foreigners searched for her.

She had no idea what they wanted, but she wasn’t about to worry about it now. She just wanted to get someplace safe and—

A claw reached out from a dark cavern, Izzy seeing it too late to avoid it. It wrapped around her and yanked her into the darkness. She brought her weapon up, to strike at least once, but before any of that happened, the foreigner blew out a small breath. She felt something like sand hit her in the face and Izzy breathed it in before she could stop herself. Instantly her body went limp, her ability to fight or scream or anything else, for that matter, gone.

“Sleep, little human. Sleep,” the dragon soothed.

Since she was fairly certain she had no choice, that’s what Izzy did.

Éibhear blocked an axe to the face, slammed the weapon to the ground, and rammed his body into his attacker, shoving him into the wall. Éibhear thrust his sword into the attacker’s mouth and twisted. Once the body stopped moving, Éibhear pulled his sword out and turned toward all the fighting.

“Sand dragons. Breaking the alliance with my mother?” He shook his head. “No. That doesn’t seem right.”

Aidan, with a sword in each claw, impaled two enemy dragons running toward them. He ripped out his weapons, the dragons’ insides spilling onto the floor, and faced Éibhear. “Then what the f**k are they doing?”

“I don’t know.” He looked around. “And where the f**k is Izzy?”

Aidan shrugged, cut another Sand Eater in half. “Caswyn! Uther! You see Izzy?”

“No,” Caswyn called back from across the tunnel. “And we’ve been looking.”

“Éibhear!” Brannie came around the corner. “I found this.” She held up a metal stick.

“What’s that?”

“A weapon Uncle Sulien gave Izzy. She’d never leave it behind.”

“Then where is she?” Aidan asked.

“I don’t know. But there was no blood, no bones. If she was eaten, she’d never go down easy.”

“Oy!” Caswyn called out. “Hear that?”

Éibhear tried to listen around all the sounds of battle. At first, he didn’t know what Caswyn was talking about, but then he heard it. Barking.

Éibhear pushed past the battling dragons and ran out to one of the ledges. He leaned out and saw that stupid dog running straight into the desert. He’d refused to stay back in the town with the horses, unwilling to be too far from Izzy’s side. So they’d left him in a small cavern at ground level for his safety. Éibhear had forgotten all about him.

“Go,” Aidan ordered, pushing Éibhear’s travel bag at him. “Go. Get her. We’ll deal with this here, and come for you two later.”

“We don’t even know if she’s been taken.”

“That dog wouldn’t go anywhere without her. If we found him sobbing in a corner, I’d say she was dead. But he’s running after her. And if anyone can track her down, it’s that mangy mutt. Now go.”

Éibhear took his travel bag, slinging it across his shoulders.

“Take this as well.” Aidan shoved the map of the Desert Lands at him. “For our queen, for our honor.”

Éibhear repeated the favorite Mì-runach saying, “For our queen, for our honor.” Then over the side he went, letting the wind lift his wings and his ears lead him to where that damn dog was tearing through the desert in search of his mistress.

Chapter 27

They were well into their meal when Gwenvael heard screams from outside. He looked up from his lamb and asked, “Did anyone know Mum was coming here tonight?”

Everyone was shaking their heads when Rhiannon stormed into the Great Hall . . . naked. Although Gwenvael was just grateful that she wasn’t trying to come inside while still in her dragonform. That always led to repairs and Annwyl complaining incessantly about the cost of good stone masons.

“Problems!” she yelled as she walked in. “Problems!”

Morfyd gasped at the sight of their naked mother and jumped up from the table. One of the servants tossed a fur cape to her before she’d even made it across the room and she immediately wrapped it around their mother’s shoulders at the same time their father rushed into the Great Hall. At least he had on leggings and was busy trying to pull on his boots.

“I wish you wouldn’t run from me like that,” he snarled at Rhiannon.

“We don’t have time for all these human issues about their naked bodies! We have problems!”

“It’s probably that idiot boy’s fault!” Bercelak lashed back.

Young Frederik’s head snapped up, his attention finally pulled away from the book he’d been reading all through dinner. Now that he had his reading spectacles and didn’t have to pretend he was as stupid as the rest of the males in his family, the boy always seemed to have a book in his hands.

Gwenvael leaned over and whispered to him, “He doesn’t mean you. You’re fine.”

“Oh. Good. Thanks.” Then back to his book Frederik went.

“What’s going on?” Briec demanded while still sounding amazingly bored. It was definitely a skill Gwenvael’s brother had. One none of Briec’s siblings had ever been able to master.